Son, Kane both 9/10 as Spurs smash six past 10-man United

Spurs came into this fixture off the back of a busy, but successful, couple of days. On Tuesday they beat Chelsea on penalties in the Carabao Cup, on Thursday they thrashed Maccabi Haifa 7-2 to reach the Europa League group stages and here they humiliated Manchester United 6-1.

The big moments came thick and fast, as Davinson Sanchez gave away a penalty in the first minute, which was subsequently scored by Bruno Fernandes. It wasn’t long until they were 2-1 up though, as Tanguy Ndombele and Son Heung-min turned it around by the seventh minute.

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Anthony Martial was sent off for a push in the 28th minute, and Spurs piled on, getting a third through Harry Kane just moments later. It wasn’t even half-time when Spurs added a fourth, with Son scoring his second of the game.

The second half started quickly as well, with Aurier adding Spurs’ fifth goal of the game to put the game truly out of reach. Things slowed down after that, but Kane rounded off the scoring from the penalty spot, to hand Spurs an impressive and very comfortable 6-1 win.

Positives

Spurs responded to two incredibly different scenarios very well. The first being the early penalty, which could have shaken them, the second coming when Martial was sent off, which could have seen Jose Mourinho and Co. elect to sit back. Instead, they went and got themselves a goal almost immediately both times. This plays into another big positive, which is how clinical they were in front of goal. The defence was hardly threatened at all after that early wobble, as they managed the game well, though that was also down to United’s toothless display.

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Negatives

They recovered well, but conceding a penalty so quickly is something they won’t want to get in the habit of. There aren’t going to be too many other negatives in a game that was won so emphatically.

Manager rating out of 10

9 — Jose Mourinho will be leaving Old Trafford extremely pleased with how things have worked out. His big decision was to play Serge Aurier over Matt Doherty, which was vindicated, even before the Ivorian got on the scoresheet. Man United were extremely poor, but Mourinho’s side took full advantage of that. He was also smart to take Erik Lamela off at half-time, after his feisty performance.

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Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Hugo Lloris, 5 — Was outsmarted by Fernandes for the penalty and didn’t have too much else to do.

DF Serge Aurier, 9 — Had a chance to start ahead of Doherty and took it. He was impressive defensively, while he got himself a goal and assist up the other end.

DF Davinson Sanchez, 5 — Gave away the early penalty with a stupid tackle, but put in a fairly solid display after that, though he wasn’t given much of a test.

DF Eric Dier, 7 — He was very resolute in his defending whenever called upon, showing further evidence of how reliable he can be at the back.

DF Sergio Reguilon, 6 — His deliveries into the box varied in quality, but it was a largely positive display on his league debut.

Son Heung-min was the star man as Spurs smashed six against Manchester United. Getty

MF Moussa Sissoko, 7 — Covered Aurier well when he went forward and put in a solid display in the Spurs midfield.

MF Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 7 — He was strong in his defending and very comfortable with the ball at his feet. Played a great pass to assist Aurier.

MF Tanguy Ndombele, 8 — Scored the early equaliser with help from a deflection, which started off a very confident display from the Frenchman.

FW Erik Lamela, 6 — He hustled well, notably unsettling the United defence for the first goal. Played a controversial role in Martial getting sent off and was also booked, which likely played into him taken off at half-time.

FW Harry Kane, 9 — Showed superb quick thinking to set up Son’s goal and put in good work for his first goal of the game, before rounding off the scoring with a clinical penalty. His link-up play throughout was great.

FW Heung-min Son, 9 — Many didn’t expect him to play, but Mourinho will be over the moon that he did. The South Korean got two well-taken goals and also assisted Kane.

Substitutes

FW Lucas Moura, 6 — Replaced Lamela at half-time and was fairly quiet, though he did draw a foul from Luke Shaw that could have easily drawn a red card.

MF Dele Alli, 6 — Replaced Ndombele in the 69th minute and worked well in the midfield, but missed his chance to score.

Ben Davies, N/R — Replaced Son in the 73rd minute and won a penalty after making a good run forward.